Folding chair and the like



July 14, 1936. A. DE CNINCK 2,047,178

FOLDING CHAIR AND THE LII/H1."v i

Filed Feb. 251955 2 sheets-sheet 1 July14, 1936 A. DE: cQNlNcK FOLDING CHAIR AND THE LIKE 2 vSheejzs-Sheer, 2

Filed Feb. 2q, 1955 Patented Julyy 14, 1936 PATENT OFFICE FOLDING CHAIR AND THE im Arthur De Coninck, Brussels, Beltium Application February 2. 1935, Serial No. 4.111

In Belgium November 27, 1933 1 claim. (Cl. 155-139) My invention relates to the construction of folding chairs and the like, whose seat an'd back` portions are constituted by independent pieces of fabric ffixed to the longitudinal bearers of the seat portion and to the side postsv of the back portion. the desired gauge between'said longitudinal and said side posts, respectively, being secured by means of members of such structure as to prevent any part of the users body from entering into contact with any rigid member of the chair, the arv rangement of the various members of the latter being such that the chair may be conveniently foldd so as to be compact in view of being stored 2O provided or not withhinged arms, and consists substantially of two longitudinal bearers between which a piece of fabricis stretched, said longitu y dinal bearers being braced, if, desired, by a crosstie and two pairs of front and rear legs or. alternately, by the two pairs of legs only, the legs in each pair of legs being connected to each other by means of a' cross-tie acting as an abutment adapted to limit the displacementof said legs and to keep the fabric at the desired tension, the back portion of the chair being also constituted by a piece of stretcher fabric attached to two posts hinged to the two longitudinal bearers of the seat and having their upper ends braced by a conveniently shaped cross-tie, 'said back portion being supported by a pair of crutches adapted to engage either directly or by meansvof a transverse rod, a series-of notches provided in the longitudinal bearers of the seat, the user being enabled by this construction to adjust theinclination bf the back portion without rising from the seat.

Further, the seat portion of the reclining chair may be provided with an extension consisting of a folding stool, the latter being so constructed as to be, when folded, of a width which is equal to or less than that between the posts of the `back portion, between which said stool may be inserted when the reclining chair is folded. d My invention further relates to the construction of a folding arm chair having the same general features as the above described reclining chair, the longitudinal bearers ofv said arm chair being pivoted to a pair of braced front legs forming at the same time supports for the arms hinged thereto, said longitudinal bearers being braced at their rear ends and hinged to the' posts of the back portion, the said posts being in turn pivoted to a pair of braced rear legs, the rear ends of the longitudinal bearers of the seat being adapted to be fixed to said rear legs by means of suitable pegs 'or studs, the cross-ties of the backV 5 and seat portions being positioned at avdesired distance from the fabric forming the seat and the back portion respectively of the arm chair.

Further features of the invention will appear from' the following specification with reference to l0 preferred embodiments of the invention, as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a folding reclining chair with an adjustable back portion according to my invention. l5

Fig. 2 is a section lof the said back portion on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

. Fig. 3 shows the reclining chair when folded.

Fig. 4V is a fragmentary front view of the reclining chair shown in Fig. 1. 20

. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the folding stool adapted to provide an extension for either chair 'forming the object of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation showingthe stool when folded. v 25' Fig. '7 is a section on line 'I-'I of Fig. 6. i Fig. 8is a fragmentary perspective view show- -ing the folding stool as inserted into the folded rev clining chair.

pair of legs 28 stretched by a cross-tie 29.

Towards the centre of each longitudinal bearer 4o 20-22 there is provided e. g. a stirrup 30, of U shape, to which one of the side posts 32 of the back is hinged at 3|, said posts being braced by a cross-tie A33.

A crutch 35 is hinged, to each of the posts 32, 45 such as at 34, the two crutches being preferably connected at their opposite ends by a rod or tube '36, whose ends extending beyondv said crutches may be adapted to engage suitably shaped indentations or /notches 31 cut e. g. in the body of 50` each longitudinal bearer portion 22. v It is to be understood that the cross ties 25 and .29 provided on the legs 24 and'28 respectively are positioned at a proper heightonthe latter so as to form abutmentsradapted to limit the 55 'constantly secure a strictly true gauge of said lzegs, and consequently, of the longitudinal bearers A piece of fabric 40, adapted to constitute the seat proper of. the reclining chair is stretched between the two longitudinal bearers 20, to which said fabric is xed or attached in any suitable way, While another piece of fabric 4I adapted to constitute the back of the reclining chair is stretched between the two posts 34 in the same manner as the fabric 40.

Considering that the pieces of fabric 40 and 4I are tensioned, it will be seen that they will remain at a certain distance from the cross-ties 25 and 33, which distance may still be increased by cutting out or otherwise shaping those cross-ties on a major part of their length, as shown at 33a (Fig. 2) in regard of the cross-tie 33.

Owing to this construction, and considering the position of the cross-tie 2|, it will be apparent that a stool according to my invention will comply with the rst object thereof,` viz., that the body of the user be supported and borne solely by the tensioned fabric and will not be restrained through coming into contact with a rigid member.

Further, as the inclinationof the back portion 4| is determined by the position of the crutches 35, it will be seen that the user may. while remaining in a sitting position, modify said inclination at will by simply disengaging the ends of the rod 36 from the `notches 31. Due' to the crutches 35 being hinged at 34 the ends of the rod 36 may'engage any other notch, or, alternately, dipinto a notch next to that from whi'chtthey have been disengaged. Of course, the notches 31 will have a` suitable outline so as to allow an easy engagement of the ends of the rod 36 into the notches, while preventing ill-timed disengagement of said ends.

It is also to be understood that the stirrup 3l! allows tiltingthe posts 32 of the back through an angle of 180, which would not be attained by an ordinary hinge. Owin'g to the reduced length of the branches of the stirrups 30, the

latter cooperate with the cross-tie 33 in maintaining an invariable gauge between the posts 32.

A removable or non-removable arm member is constituted by a bar 42 (Figs. 1 and 4) pivoted at one end at 34, the opposite end of the bar 42 being pivoted at 43 to a pair of metal strips 44 fixed to a short post 45 pivoted at 4G to the longitudinal bearer 20 of the seat portion. The end 41 of the post 45 is cut in wedge form so that the parts of the arm member would not increase the thickness of the reclining chair when .the latter is folded.

Upon examination of the construction and the arrangement of parts forming thechair shown in Fig. 1, as well as the direction of folding as indicated by the arrows, it will be understood without further explanation that the whole unit may be conveniently folded so as to be very compact,

as shown in Fig. 3.

Finally, the above reclining chair may convenientlybe completed by an extension or foot rest consisting of a folding stool such as shown in Figs. 5 to 8. y

As shown in those gures, the folding stool consists of two frame members having posts 43, 49 and 50, 5I, respectively. The posts 48, 49 are braced at their upper and lower ends by crossties 52 and 53. respectively, while the posts 50, 5l are braced at their upper and lower ends by crossties 54 and 55 respectively.

The thus formed frame members 43, 49, 52. 53

and 50, 5l, 54, 55 are pivoted to a common cross-` tie, 5s. I l

It will be seen from Figs. 6 and 7 that the posts 50 and5| are of less length than the posts 49, 49, so that when the stool is folded the frame member 50, 5I, 54, 55 will be lodged within the outer frame member 48, 49, 52,. 53 so as to be positioned in the plane of the latter. As shown in Fig. 7, the total thickness of the stool when foldeddoes not exceed that of the posts 43 and 49 of the outer frame member.

The result of the particular arrangement of the two frame members is that when the stool is unfolded, the seat or rest portion constituted by a .piece of fabric connecting the two frame portions is somewhat oil'set laterally relatively to the base of the stool.l However, as will be vseen from Fig. 5, the amount of the oifset does in no way affect the stability of the stool.

Finally, it will be seen that the above described arrangement of the frame members makes it possible to provide, at the lower ends of the latter, the cross-ties 55 and 53 which would ensure to the stool a stability and strength throughout.

As shown in Fig. 8, theA stool, when folded, may be inserted between the posts 32 of the back portion, the cross-tie 33, and the. fabric 4l of the pair of bearers as a seat; side posts whose lowerv ends are pivoted to said stirrups on an axis above the plane containing said longitudinal bearers; a cross-tie between said side posts near their upper ends; a fabric secured to said side posts and stretched between them and spaced from said cross-tie; a cross-tie between said longitudinal bearers and located to the rear of said stirrups; a crutch pivoted to said side posts and operatively connected to the rear extensions of the longitudinal bearers; an arm .bar pivoted at one end to each side post; a pair of metal strips pivoted to the other end of each arm bar and pivoted .to the adjacent longitudinal bar; a post between each pair Ofmetal. strips, the upper ends of which posts are cut wedge shape for purposes described. ARTHUR DE CONINCK 

